Breath of fresh air: Elijah Bryant's debut marks Efes' first EuroLeague win / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Tolga Adanali/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Tolga Adanali/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

Anadolu Efes Istanbul (1-4) captured their first victory of this Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season by taking care of UNICS Kazan (1-4) at home 71-68 (18-22, 14-15, 15-14, 24-17).

Player of the Game EFF 21 Adrien Moerman Points 10 Accuracy 3-5 Rebounds 9 Assists 1

Adrien Moerman's 3-pointer and Elijah Bryant's drive gave Efes a six-point advantage with under 3 minutes to go (64-58).

Isaiah Canaan answered with two of his own, but Moerman hit another long-range bomb to give Efes their largest lead of the game (67-60). The game ended with a free throw contest and with Efes holding on to a three-point victory.

Adrien Moerman led Efes with 10 points (1/3 2PT, 2/2 3PT, 2/2 FT), 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, and 21 PIR.

"Of course, I am happy that we won this game," Efes coach Ergin Ataman said post-game. "One more game, we played terribly. This is not the basketball that we played in the last three years, but without three guards, main players, I see that we did an excellent job to catch Elijah Bryant up in the last minute because he helped us win."

Lorenzo Brown was great for UNICS, ending with 16 points (5/8 2PT, 2/5 3PT), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, and 23 PIR.

Both teams went back and forth in the first half, but UNICS had an eight-point advantage towards the end of the second period (33-25). Efes cut their deficit to five at the half (32-37).

Efes started the second half with a 6-0 run to regain the lead (38-37), but UNICS answered with a spurt of their own to gain a four-point lead going into the final period (51-47).

Efes had a great start to the final period, re-taking the lead after the team's newcomer Elijah Bryant hit a triple (54-53).

Bryant made his debut for Efes, ending with 14 points (3/5 2PT, 2/6 3PT, 2/4 FT), 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, and 8 PIR.

"I think it was a great win, but I think there is great room for improvement, specifically myself - I missed 2 free throws that I shouldn't have missed," Bryant said after the win. "At the end of the day, we got a win, and that is all that matters. We are just keeping getting better each and every single day. I am tired. I think I am a bit jet-lagged, still."

O.J. Mayo made his EuroLeague debut for UNICS, finishing with 0 points (0/3 2PT), 1 steal, 1 turnover, and -5 PIR.

Efes played without Vasilije Micic, James Anderson, Krunoslav Simon, and Dogus Balbay.

Efes: Rodrigue Beaubois 14, Elijah Bryant 12, Tibor Pleiss 12 (6 REB), Adrien Moerman 10 (9 REB), Shane Larkin 8 (5 AST, 6 TO), Ertem Gazi 5.

UNICS: Lorenzo Brown 16 (6 REB), Isaiah Canaan 16, Mario Hezonja, 11 (6 REB, 5 AST), Tonye Jekiri 8, John Brown 5.

Highlights

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